Winter of Wool and Biodynamic Textiles

Raw sheep’s wool reigns in the realm of the senses and has been instrumental in creating connections between nature and culture throughout the ancient history of textiles. Wool’s characteristics of malleability, density, rich textures, strong earthy scent, a greasiness to the touch and raw materiality speaks clearly to its origins in agriculture. Wool is currently at the centre of conversations around sustainable materials, regenerative farming practices, the climate beneficial wool cycle, local fibersheds and slow fashion. In the tradition of Arte Povera, making work that blurs the distinction between art, craft and life, I am engaged with reimagining slow textile futures and weaving a local, biodynamic textile using raw, unspun wool. Throughout the next few months I’ll be visiting local wool producers, sourcing local raw wool, and continuing my design work with weaving raw wool into plain weave structures and felting into dense, textural textiles.

Jannis Kounellis
(1936, Grèce - 2017, Italie)

Sans titre

1968

(Photo taken at Centre Pompidou, Paris in 2019)